The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is better known as RCIA, is a process designed for three different groups of people: (1) adults who are not baptized and would like to join the Catholic Church, (2) adults who were baptized as children into the Catholic faith, but who have not completed their initiation in the Church because they have not celebrated their First Holy Communion and/or Sacrament of Confirmation, and (3) adults who have been validly baptized in another Christian denomination and who now want to be received in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church welcomes people of all faiths and backgrounds into the RCIA process. Different parishes organize this process in slightly different ways. At St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chula Vista, the class members meet on Tuesdays or Sundays beginning in early September (more on that in a moment). Those who decide after careful discernment that they do, in fact, wish to become Catholic will be formally brought into the Church at the Easter Vigil (the night before Easter Sunday). To be considered a "fully initiated" Catholic, a person needs to have been baptized, to have made his or her First Communion in the Catholic Church, and to have celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. Each of these Sacraments of Initiation is celebrated at the Easter Vigil.

How the process works

Here at St. Rose of Lima, in an effort to accommodate everyone, our RCIA groups meet either Tuesdays at 7:30-9:00 pm or on Sundays at 8:45-11:15 am from early September until mid-May. We also have the RCIA in spanish for those who prefer that language. These sessions are held on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. RCIA members are strongly encouraged to begin attending our Mass in September; they will be required to do so beginning in January.

During our RCIA sessions, topics like Jesus, the Bible, the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, prayer, Church history, the liturgical year, social justice and service issues, and the Mass are presented. The speakers from our RCIA team welcome questions, and our parish staff is always available to answer questions as well. We love questions -- even the tough ones! We want to provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision -- and one that you are comfortable making -- about whether or not you truly wish to be fully members of the Catholic Church. If, after you have asked some questions and done some reflecting and praying, you realize that this is not the right faith for you, we will certainly wish you well as you continue your journey along another path.

The RCIA process, in fact, is specifically designed to help adults make informed decisions about their faith. The first part of the process is called the "Inquiry Phase" to emphasize the invitation to members of the group to ask questions.
Those who wish to continue then move into the "Catechumenate Phase," a phase with a weird name but not (we hope) with weird sessions! In the Catechumenate Phase, the RCIA teams seeks to make sure that each person understands the nature of the commitment they are about to make and the particular sacraments that they will receive at the Easter Vigil.

Other things you might want to know

Cost: There is no fee for the Rite of Christian Initiation process.

Sponsor: Everyone who celebrates the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation needs a godparent/sponsor. A sponsor is a Catholic adult who has already been confirmed and who agrees to support you as you prepare for Baptism or Confirmation. Ideally, you and your sponsor will continue that relationship even after Easter. If you do not know anyone who could serve as your sponsor, we will be happy to provide one for you. On the other hand, you are very welcome to invite a friend or relative to be your sponsor (although parents cannot be sponsors). Spouses and significant others are extremely important to this process -- that person often may be the reason you wanted to convert to Catholicism in the first place! We definitely recognize this and welcome their participation in any of the sessions they choose to attend.

What if you are already baptized?

Generally speaking, a person who has already been baptized in a Christian faith tradition will make a profession of faith and receive their First Communion and celebrate their Confirmation through the RCIA process (This is because the Catholic Church accepts the validity of all Trinitarian baptisms. If you have never been baptized, however, or if you were baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or in another denomination that does not use what’s called the "Trinitarian formula" for baptisms), you will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. If you’re uncertain about your baptism, just ask us.

R.C.I.A. Registry Form